
Artist's commentary
Sea Otter
She never wanders too far from the coast. The salt in the air is too comforting, and the quality of the shellfish doesn't improve much.
Someone in my life had a real affinity for sea otters, and even while I prefer the build and esthetics of river otters myself, it seemed like a good enough challenge to anthropomorphize one. I'm hardly the first, but most of what I've seen leans too far into a realistic depiction or stays indistinguishable from "river otter". Here's my own first attempt, so lemme know where you think she lands.
The shading ended up getting a little more time than I intended, and I'm not totally sure the result was worth it. I'm always a little worried of over-rendering, which sometimes has the effect of making the subject look less natural. Weird huh.
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